Page 65 of Rifted Hearts
That left Kaveh bleeding from a myriad of cuts, and as he staggered forward, Rhys climbed higher in the air, gathering wind around him. The roar above the arena was so loud it drowned out everything else.
Rhys had created a fucking tornado, and he would kill Kaveh with it.
Remi could do nothing other than grip the ugly green bars of the chute and watch.
The gray drakone dropped to the ground and changed again into his humanoid alter form, gathering airborne debris around him. Although the arena and the people in the bleachers had been protected from the impact of thewind power Rhys was using, likely by the guardians, the same couldn’t be said for the surrounding ranch. Torn-up shingles, chunks of lumber, and metal projectiles swirled around Rhys in a deadly whirlwind as he stood facing Kaveh.
A terra-cotta tile flew out of the swirling mass of dirt and debris and sailed by Kaveh’s left ear, crashing against the fence. The vet tried to lurch to the right, but Rhys sent a metal rod hurtling toward him, barely missing him.
“Give him to me.” Rhys’s voice, unnaturally loud over the roar of the wind, held both fury and a note of pleading. Maybe he didn’t want to kill his former lover, but it was clear he would do it rather than permit Kaveh to save Remi. Even though Remi had rejected Kaveh’s help and refused to consider coming to the keep under his protection, Rhys was going to make his ex suffer for even caring about Remi.
The pompous drakone had patronized Kaveh because he was ace, dumped him, and now was going to end his life because he still had a thing for him and was a jealous prick.
The wind swirling around Rhys compressed into a circle of broken tile shards rotating around his chest. It morphed again into a horizontal vortex of razor-sharp debris, with the narrow end facing Kaveh like the tip of a drill.
Other than the hum of the deadly projectile, all the noise of the battle died away. It was as if even the air in the arena was holding its breath.
“Last chance.” Rhys’s voice cracked as he said the words.
“I’m not worth your life, Kaveh.” Remi only figured out he was shouting after he heard his voice reverberating throughout the arena. “I’m not even worth twisting your ankle. Let the son of a bitch have me. Too many people depend on you, and no one needs me in their life, especially you.”
Kaveh locked eyes with Remi, and despite the fear, anger, and host of emotions he must have been feeling, he managed a small smile.
“When this is over, you and I are going to have a long discussion about your sense of self-worth.” He turned back to his ex, his face settling into grim determination as he flung both arms out, inviting the killing blow. “I’ll never let you hurt Remi again.”
Green fire crackled around Kaveh, a last desperate attempt to use his Azdaha abilities to save himself. Rhys sent a hail of projectiles at Kaveh, as the bastard had promised.
And then Snow attacked.
The half-Earth parrot, half-Riftworld phoenix, and all-around little brat launched himself into the air straight at Rhys.
The flap of his wings sent a shower of sparks trailing behind him, flames crackled around his small body, and finally Snow swelled into the size of a California condor and tried to set the entire arena on fire.
Remi dropped to the ground, covering his head with his hands as the searing heat of the flames roared over him and everyone else. He peeked out through the bars of the chute to see Rhys hurling gusts of wind to protect himself from the fireball unleashed by Snow.
There was no sign of Kaveh, and that panicked far him more than the imminent threat of turning into barbecued chinchilla.
Kaida and Raion, who hadn’t shown any ability to talk, walk, or make draconian judgments with any speed at all, were suddenly at opposite ends of the arena. The komainu gleamed like their bodies had been dipped in gold, and the raging fires of Snow’s fully manifested phoenix alter formbeat uselessly against a translucent barrier the guardians had somehow erected above the entire arena.
The screams of alarm from the audience died out as the flames did, and Snow’s terrifying size shrank down as he resumed his parrot shape and made an unsteady descent to the ground. Snow landed less than a meter away from Remi, coughed out a smoke ring, and regarded him with puffed-up pride.
A small portal opened up, and a clearly irritated Flutterberry popped out, nudged the bird into the portal with the swipe of a paw, then sprang into it before it winked out of existence.
Remi climbed to his feet, searching for Kaveh.
He could see Rhys, his clothing stained with soot, kneeling on the ground, pawing through a pile of debris.
Remi couldn’t make sense of that for a long moment. Then he spotted the shredded and burnt remains of Kaveh’s clothing and watched in horror as Rhys picked up a blood-splattered cowboy hat and tossed it aside.
People in the audience overcame their shock and began to stand up, trying to see more. There was a buzz of questions and anxious murmurs and, as it became clear there was no movement in the mass of dirt and fabric where Kaveh had been standing, hoarse cries of grief.
The drakones rose to their feet as well, with Xiang Jao staring down at the field in front of her, her scaled face rigid with repressed emotion.
Remi swayed on his feet. It was over, and Kaveh was dead.
He couldn’t cry, he didn’t have the energy to rage against Rhys, and he couldn’t even care that his life would be over next.
All of this pain and horror was his fault.
